What is the purpose of life?

An eternal question, what is the purpose of life?, occupied philosophers’ thoughts throughout history. Stone pictographs reveal even primitive peoples reflected on this query. Each one has the capacity to define his or her personal thinking about politics, economics and religion.

Discussion Forum

Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III has gathered evidence that a secret meeting in Seychelles just before the inauguration of Donald Trump was an effort to establish a back channel between the incoming administration and the Kremlin — apparently…Continue

. . . But recent survey data provides troubling evidence that a shared sense of national identity is unraveling, with two mutually exclusive narratives emerging along party lines. At the heart of this divide are opposing reactions to changing demographics and culture. The shock waves from these transformations — harnessed effectively by Donald Trump’s campaign — are reorienting the political parties from the more familiar liberal-versus-conservative alignment to new poles of cultural pluralism and monism.

, , , There have been other times in our history when the fabric of American identity was stretched in similar ways — the Civil War, heightened levels of immigration at the turn of the 20th century and the cultural upheavals of the 1960s.

But during these eras, white Christians were still secure as a demographic and cultural majority in the nation. The question at stake was whether they were going to make room for new groups at a table they still owned. Typically, a group would gain its seat in exchange for assimilation to the majority culture. But as white Christians have slipped from the majority over the past decade, this familiar strategy is no longer viable.

White Christians are today struggling to face a new reality: the inevitable surrender of table ownership in exchange for an equal seat. And it’s this new higher-stakes challenge that is fueling the great partisan reorientation we are witnessing today.

The prime goal of modern conservatism has been the destruction not only of the literal political commonwealth, but the very idea of it, the spirit and impulse behind the first three words of the Constitution that was produced by the Convention that opened 230 years ago on Monday. Having sought its destruction within the political sphere, there now seems to be a concerted effort to track down and kill what's left of its fragile spirit within our private institutions. We, The People is close to being completely eclipsed by Us and Them, which is the anti-matter to the substance of a democratic republic. Annihilation is the inevitable result.

And how happy I am to be in California, where voters can, and recently did via a ballot proposition, end an abuse of power by a legislature (which currently has a Democratic majority). America needs a national direct initiative and referendum.

Congress should not be conducting business as usual when our democracy is under direct threat. It is every Member of Congress’ sworn duty to protect and defend our country, including from abuses of power by the sitting President. I urge you to object on every motion until an independent prosecutor has been appointed. Artie Nusbaum, one of the managers of the construction firm that built Trump Tower, said of Trump, “This is who he is. No morals, no nothing.” I urge you to save democracy through appointment of an independent prosecutor.

I also urge you again to support The Presidential Tax Transparency Act S. 26, that would require all Presidents and nominees for President to release their tax returns to the public.

Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions are reportedly interviewing candidates to serve as interim FBI director until Trump names and the Senate confirms a new FBI director. This is a direct conflict of interest. Both Trump and Sessions are potential targets of the investigation into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump administration. Sessions is once again violating his pledge to completely recuse himself from the ongoing investigation of Russian interference after being caught lying under oath about his contacts with Russia. Statute allows the president to choose an interim FBI director outside of the standard order of succession, and that process is underway. According to a Justice Department official, the attorney general is also considering Andrew McCabe. When nominees are presented, I urge you to reject any new FBI director with a political background. The public can only trust someone with a non-political Justice Department history, without Trump administration or political entanglements. The FBI Agents Associationhas backed former lawmaker and FBI agent Mike Rogers to replace Comey

If Trump nominates radio host and climate denier Sam Clovis to run the research division of the Department of Agriculture, I urge you to oppose him. Clovis, who has never taken a graduate science course, should never be in charge of research.

Politico found six senators who each traded more than 100 stocks in the past two years, in conflict of interest with their political duties. I urge you to strengthen Senate ethics accountability and bring this shameful practice to a halt.

Congress should not be conducting business as usual when our democracy is under direct threat. It is every Member of Congress’ sworn duty to protect and defend our country, including from abuses of power by the sitting President. I urge you to object on every motion until an independent prosecutor has been appointed. Of the dozen or so Republican senators who have expressed some qualms about Comey’s dismissal, none have backed the calls for an independent prosecutor to take over the Russian probe. The consequences will be catastrophic if not enough Republicans find the conscience and guts to stand up to Trump. Artie Nusbaum, one of the managers of the construction firm that built Trump Tower, said, “This is who he is. No morals, no nothing.” I urge you to save democracy through appointment of an independent prosecutor.

I also urge you again to support The Presidential Tax Transparency Act S. 26, that would require all Presidents and nominees for President to release their tax returns to the public.

Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions are reportedly interviewing candidates to serve as interim FBI director until Trump names and the Senate confirms a new FBI director. This is a direct conflict of interest. Both Trump and Sessions are potential targets of the investigation into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump administration. Sessions is once again violating his pledge to completely recuse himself from the ongoing investigation of Russian interference after being caught lying under oath about his contacts with Russia. Statute allows the president to choose an interim FBI director outside of the standard order of succession, and that process is underway. According to a Justice Department official, the attorney general is also considering Andrew McCabe. When nominees are presented, I urge you to reject any new FBI director with a political background. The public can only trust someone with a non-political Justice Departmsnt history, without Trump administration or political entanglements. The FBI Agents Associationhas backed former lawmaker and FBI agent Mike Rogers to replace Comey

If Trump nominates radio host and climate denier Sam Clovis to run the research division of the Department of Agriculture, I urge you to oppose him. Clovis, who has never taken a graduate science course, should never be in charge of research.

Politico found six senators who each traded more than 100 stocks in the past two years, in conflict of interest with their political duties. I urge you to strengthen Senate ethics accountability and bring this shameful practice to a halt.

Politico found 28 House members who each traded more than 100 stocks in the past two years, in conflict of interest with their political duties. I urge you to strengthen house ethics accountability and bring this shameful practice to a halt.

Under enormous internal pressure to quickly balance the budget, Republicans are considering slashing more than $400 billion in spending through a process to evade Democratic filibusters in the Senate, multiple sources report. Among the programs most likely on the chopping block, the sources say, are food stamps, welfare, income assistance for the disabled and perhaps even veterans benefits. If enacted, such a plan to curb safety-net programs - all while boosting the Pentagon's budget and slicing corporate tax rates - would amount to the biggest shift in federal spending priorities in decades. I urge you to oppose such horrific budget cuts that will greatly harm your constituents.

For years the Republican party has talked as if country and party are one, as in "The Republican Party represents the true America." By delegitimizing ideas that aren’t their own and marginalizing non-Republicans as “not Real Americans,” the Republican Party was equated to “The Real America.” It was the country. Everybody else was either an interloper or an agitator or not very bright. Meanwhile, the only Real America that their policies helped was Corporate America. Now, when US democracy itself is teetering on the brink of extinction, how many Republican legislators don’t even comprehend pleas to put country before party - when party means country, in their minds. Can your constituents count on you to respect those of us who are not Republican? Can we trust you to represent us as you’ve sworn? I urge you to step up and demand a special prosecutor.Get to the truth of whatever treason and corruption fester at the heart of this administration, as the Republican Watergate Heroes before you did, so we can all regain our freedom.